Blade of the Phantom Master

Blade of the Phantom Mask takes place in a fictional, and historical, far eastern country named Jushin. In Jushin, there once lived secret government agents called angyo onshi, who traveled the countryside in disguise. They were charged by the king to find and punish corrupt government officials and bring justice to the country's citizens.

At the start of the series, Jushin has been destroyed, and corruption and tyranny are widespread. Blade of the Phantom Mask follows the adventures of one of the remaining angyo onshi, Munsu, as he continues to wander the countryside and deals with the chaos caused by Jushin's fall.

Though initially episodic in nature, it becomes apparent that Munsu's travels are not random as the series progresses. In truth, Munsu is searching for the man responsible for assassinating his best friend, who was also the king of Jushin and whose death led to the fall of the country.

Template:Spoiler But as Munsu grows closer to reaching his goal, he also encounters old friends and comrades who have since switched their allegiance to his enemy. Through them, it is revealed that Munsu was not always an angyo onshi and in fact, may have been partly responsible for the king's death and subsequent fall of Jushin himself. Template:Endspoiler

In addition to the overarching plotline, the series also uses the exploits of Munsu and his companions to retell various Korean folk stories.

This section describes the characters as they appear in the manga version.

Blade of the Phantom Mask bases many of its characters on Korean folklore heroes and historical figures. To reflect this, character names and proper terms are kept as close to the Korean as possible.

In Blade of the Phantom Mask, angyo onshi bear ranks called mahai, denoted by the number of horses cast into a bronze medallion given to them by the king:

• First mahai onshi can summon basic magic to fight ordinary soldiers.
• Second mahai onshi can summon demons to fight evil sorcery.
• Third mahai onshi can summon the phantom soldiers of Jushin, who are undefeatable and indestructible.

After the fall of Jushin, both first and second mahai medallions are useless; only third mahai medallions still function.

Angyo onshi are also prohibited from having families, but they are allowed one bodyguard, who bears the special title of "sando."

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Munsu is the main character of the series and a third mahai angyo onshi from the fallen kingdom of Jushin. Despite the common perception held by Jushin's former citizens that angyo onshi are virtuous and bearers of justice, Munsu is amoral and does not believe in helping people who refuse to help themselves. When he does help others, his methods can be questionable and often misconstrued as "evil." Munsu suffers from a curse that resembles asthma, which can only be alleviated by the inhaler-like charm he wears around his neck.

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese)

Sando, whose real name is Chun Hyang, is a beautiful woman with immense fighting ability and Munsu's companion. She is the only character in Blade of the Phantom Mask capable of defeating Munsu's phantom soldiers. When she was kidnapped by a corrupt lord who wanted to make her his personal bodyguard, her lover embarked on a failed quest to become an angyo onshi and died as an indirect result. After Munsu frees her, she decides to become his bodyguard in memory of her dead lover and takes the title "Sando" as her new name. Despite her fearsome natural fighting ability, Sando is quiet and shy and believes in doing what is right. As a result, she fights with Munsu constantly over his chosen methods and has made it clear that if he does something truly evil, she will no longer protect him.

Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese)

Bang Ja is Munsu's unwanted but good-intentioned servant. Once the servant and apprentice of a first mahai onshi, his former master released him from service after Jushin's destruction. When his master and his sando were later killed in a rebel uprising against a corrupt lord, Bang Ja began roaming the country as a thief. He believes that angyo onshi should be virtuous and heroic, which is why Munsu's behavior often shocks him.

Aji Tae is a former scholar from Jushin and the man Munsu holds responsible for the destruction of the country. Many of Munsu's former allies and comrades have since switched their loyalties to Aji Tae, whom they now call "Lord." His motives and purpose, as of yet, remain unknown.

Mago is Aji Tae's companion and bodyguard. At first appearance, she is a muscular warrior woman. In reality, however, Mago is an intelligent, man-eating panther. The only person who sees her as a human woman, for certain, is Aji Tae; Munsu and most others see her as the panther. It remains unclear whether or not Sando sees her as the human or the panther. To her, Mago is merely an "enemy."

Won Sul is a master swordsman from Jushin, who was once a subordinate of Munsu. However, when Jushin fell he began serving Aji Tae, growing Yang Gwi Bi, a plant with narcotic properties, to ship to the west in exchange for weaponry. He has a sword, Saruhyondo, made from his killing intent; this sword is only visible to a select few.

Won Hyo is a high-ranking sorcerer from Jushin, who was once an ally and friend of Munsu. Along with Won Sul, when Jushin fell Won Hyo began serving Aji Tae, helping with the growth of Yang Gwi Bi. While serving Jushin, Won Hyo was permanently scarred in battle, leaving him in his demon form; while serving Aji Tae he began taking human sacrifices, devouring their souls so that he could keep a human appearance.

Miss Hwang first appears in the series as a tavern owner. In reality, she is a second mahai angyo onshi, who was in disguise while investigating the local government. She also later appears disguised as a captive sacrifice. Unlike Munsu, her sando is not human but rather a beast that resembles an East Asian dragon.

Eul Paso is a former soldier of Jushin, who became Aji Tae's lackey after the fall of Jushin. After facing Munsu and Miss Hwang, it was thought that he had been killed by her Sando. However, in reality he became Miss Hwang's Bang Ja and continued travelling with her.

Marlene is a famous western swordswoman who is involved in the invasion of Chilgap. She and Sando fight when Chilgap is under siege, but Marlene leaves before the fight can be decided, stating that there have been too many distractions and urging Sando to seek her out later on.

Mong Ryong is an idealistic young man who left his village to become an angyo onshi in order to save his kidnapped lover, Chun Hyang. His efforts met with failure no less than three times and after Jushin fell, he had no choice but to return to his village empty-handed. On the way there, he passes through the desert where he meets and saves the life of a dying man whose name is Munsu.

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (Japanese)

Bun Haku Dou is the corrupt lord of Mong Ryong's and Chun Hyang's home village. His paranoid nature led him to kidnap Chun Hyang in an effort to coerce her into becoming his personal bodyguard.

Voiced by: Ryusei Nakao (Japanese) Template:Endspoiler

While In-Wan Youn and Kyung-Il Yang were publishing manhwa in their home country of Korea, the writer/artist team dreamt of having their work released in Japan where it could find a larger audience due to the market size. After showing their work to various Japanese publishers, Blade of the Phantom Mask debuted in the monthly manga magazine, Sunday GX, in 2001.^[3] As of December 2006, the series has been collected into 15 tankoubons published by Shogakukan.

Both In-Wan Youn and Kyung-Il Yang grew up reading and enjoying manga despite not knowing much about Japanese culture. In the same way, they believed that Japanese readers would enjoy reading a work drawn from a Korean cultural background as long as it was interesting. The creators work closely with a Japanese editor to ensure that the background details and story development were explained and easy for a Japanese audience to understand.^[3]

As of November 2005, the manga has sold over 2.2 million copies since its debut.^[3]

Due to its popularity, the comic was adapted into an anime movie in 2004. Directed by Jouji Shimura, the anime was produced by the Korean company, Character Plan, and the Japanese animation studio, Oriental Light and Magic,^[4] with the latter being credited as doing approximately 70% of the work.^[5] The project marked the first collaboration between Japan and Korea on an animated theatrical feature.

The anime made its North American premiere at the 2005 Fantasia Festival in Montreal under the title, Phantom Master: Dark Hero from Ruined Empire.^[4] While ADV Films announced in August 2006 that it had licensed the movie for North American distribution, no release date has been given as of December 2006.^[2]

The anime is an adaptation of early manga chapters, covering the stories of Munsu's desert encounter with Mong Ryong, his subsequent quest to free Sando, and one of the pair's early adventures together.

Blade of the Phantom Mask draws the basis for its premise and main characters from The Legend of Chun Hyang, a classic Korean story. There are two versions: a popular folk story and a lesser known novel.

In the folk story, Chun Hyang, the daughter of a courtesan, falls in love with a nobleman's son, Mong Ryong. But because of the class difference, their relationship is prohibited. Since Mong Ryong is a nobleman's son, he is required to travel to the capital to take the government exams. Before he leaves, he promises Chun Hyang that he'll return for her.

While he is gone, a new lord named Bun Haku Dou arrives in their hometown and becomes infatuated with Chun Hyang. When she spurns his advances, Bun Haku Dou kidnaps her and tortures her to make her change her mind. When this fails, Bun Haku Dou decides to kill her. But on the day of Chun Hyang's execution, Mong Ryong returns, bearing the medallion of an angyo onshi. Bun Haku Dou is arrested, and Mong Ryong and Chun Hyang live happily ever after.

In the novel, the story remains mostly the same with a few notable exceptions. In this version, while Chun Hyang was imprisoned by Bun Haku Dou, Mong Ryong married another woman. Unlike the folk story version, there is no happy ending for the couple because Chun Hyang kills herself at the end of the novel.

The creators intended for Blade of the Phantom Mask to follow the tragic tone of the novel instead of the folk tale, which serves as the inspiration for other manga such as CLAMP's The Legend of Chun Hyang.^[6]

• Template:Ja icon Official movie website
• Shin Angyo Onshi ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Shin Angyo Onshi ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia